J’envoie un message à Marie.

I send a message to Marie.

Breakdown of J’envoie un message à Marie.

• je: I
• Marie: Marie
• à: to
• envoyer: to send
• le message: the message

Questions & Answers about J’envoie un message à Marie.

Why is the verb spelled envoie instead of something like envoye?

In the present tense of envoyer, the spelling changes for the first and second person singular (je, tu) and third person singular (il/elle/on). The -y- becomes -i-, so we get j’envoie, tu envoies, il/elle/on envoie. This is a standard stem change in French for certain verbs ending in -oyer and -uyer.

Why do we use un message rather than une message?

The word message is a masculine noun in French. Nouns in French are either masculine or feminine, and message happens to be masculine, so we must use un.

What does the preposition à do in à Marie?

The preposition à indicates the indirect object in this sentence. It tells us to whom the message is being sent. In English, you can say I’m sending Marie a message, but in French we typically keep the structure un message à Marie or use the object pronoun lui if we replace à Marie (e.g., Je lui envoie un message).

Could we say J’envoie Marie un message without the à?

Not in standard French. You need the preposition à to make it grammatically correct. The direct translation of the English construction I send Marie a message doesn’t carry over directly into French without à.

Can we replace à Marie with a pronoun?

Yes. If you want to replace à Marie with a pronoun, you use lui (the indirect object pronoun). So, the sentence becomes Je lui envoie un message, meaning I am sending her a message.